Stories for December 7th 2017

Mercosur is confident a framework agreement with the European Union will be announced next week despite resistance from farmers in Europe to permit tariff-free beef imports, a Mercosur official said. “There is more than a 70% chance of reaching a deal,” said the official close to the negotiations that have dragged on for almost two decades.

Venezuela's former oil czar resigned as ambassador to the United Nations, on what he said were orders from President Nicolas Maduro, a sign of growing divisions in the ruling socialist party amid a deepening economic crisis.

Brazil’s central bank cut interest rates to an all-time low on Wednesday and hinted at a smaller reduction early next year, although it said it would be extra cautious going forward. The bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, cut the benchmark Selic rate by 50 basis points to 7.00%, capping a 725 basis-point decline since October 2016.

Russia has sent Argentina all the necessary materials for taking part in a tender for fighter jets with its Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft, Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Anatoly Punchuk told TASS news agency.

In a momentous shift of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday and initiated the process of relocating the U.S. embassy to the city from Tel Aviv.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has issued a subpoena to Germany’s largest bank, in a possible sign the investigation into Russian election interference may be expanding toward the finances of President Donald Trump or other individuals under scrutiny by the special counsel.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he expected Britain and the European Union to progress soon into the next phase of Brexit negotiations, despite Prime Minister Theresa May’s problems in getting the political backing at home to move ahead.

More than half of British people now think the country will get a bad Brexit deal, according to a new survey. A report by polling expert Professor John Curtice suggests the UK public, including those who voted Leave in the EU referendum, has become more critical of the way negotiations are being handled and more pessimistic about the consequences of Brexit.

British Prime Minister Theresa May told her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar that she would propose suggestions to Brexit negotiators over the next 24 hours to try to break an impasse on the issue of the Irish border, Varadkar said on Wednesday.